The take this time was similar to last time. We got a lot of VFDs from the display assortments, which we can't use right now due to lack of a good cheap easy-to-reproduce 30-40V AC power supply, but those will be much fun later. We went with the "Super" (medium size) surprise boxes this time, to get more densely packed smaller components and less larger sparse items like the security hardware and R/C cars for last time. The choice parts this time included some high voltage relays, two-prong AC outlets, a bunch more 96x64 LCDs, a few dozen dual RJ45 jacks, some 10-segment LED bar graphs, and a lot of nice trim and dual-log pots. The bulk of the order was once again capacitors.

We are going to take a break before the next order, probably 2-3 months, so that they can cycle through their stock and hopefully provide a bit more variety next time.

Taopunk was spotted last night working on a very intresting project. Can you non-freeside members figure out what it is??? Hmmm...Click on the picture to see a larger image.First guest to figure it out will win a Freeside T-shirt and sticker.

Yesteday, Freeside Atlanta was featured on the front page of Creative Loafing Atlanta. Creative Loafing is a weekly newspaper focused on local culture, events, and entertainment. So grab one while supplies last! The online article and video can be viewed here on this Link as well.

Thanks to all attendees for making the day so great. Special thanks go to our generous sponsors: Schedules Direct, Inc. and pcHDTV, Inc. and to Jarod Wilson for autographing a copy of his "Hacking MythTV," Keith Watson and Aaron Ruscetta for providing their throughly enjoyable presentations, Scott McBrien (Fedora Ambassador) for stopping-in and supporting the event, David Knowles, Robert McCurdy, and everyone else from Freeside who donated their time, monitors and computer equipment. Clearly, the event could not have happened without you.

Raw event specs and stats: The day started at 8:30 AM and eventually lost steam at 4:30 PM. Thirty five folks filtered in throughout the day. Keith Watson and Aaron Rusecetta delivered two highly appreciated and well attended presentations. We completed five fresh installs, but two other installs failed due to hardware issues. We raised about $100.00 for Freeside Atlanta. We raffled off one copy of "Hacking MythtTV," and five subscriptions to Schedules Direct's listing service and seven Schedules Direct T-shirts. We also consumed five large Papa John's Pizzas.

As a collateral benefit of the event, we saw the creation of two new tech related groups. Most everyone at the show wanted more MythTV, so we formed a MythTV Users Group (MUCH). For a crew of IT Geeks in Chattanooga, TN receiving the e-mails promoting the event proved to be just the catalyst needed for them to start their own Hacker/Maker space. Last I heard, they were searching for warehouse space and corporate sponsorship.

CONFERENCE

Keith Watson's presentation entitled "Hacking The Tivax T-8" detailed Keith's integration of his Tivax T-8 digital converter box into his MythTV system. He began by discussing how he reviewed the schematics for the digital converter box and learned how to use the box's serial port to change channels. He then described the scripting language and commands used to control the converter box, and concluded his presentation by discussing his plans to connect the Tivax T-8 to his MythTV system. (More on this later.) His presentation, in addition to being an interesting hacking tale, was packed with many useful and informative weblinks about capturing broadcast digital programing. It is available here: Hacking The Tivax T-8

Aaron Ruscetta's presentation was entitled "Digital Video's Perpetual Proprietary Flaws." We all deal with the aggravation of not being able to play certain music/video files due to format incompatibility. Aaron's presentation focused on navigating the complex maze of proprietary media encoding and encryption schemes. His presentation also delved into your right to fairly use audio and visual media. Aaron has generously offered to come back to Freeside and give another talk on the topic. He mentioned that having a "Blender" available would enhance the his presentation, and fortunately a "Blender Render Farm" is on Freeside's list of proposed projects, so stay tuned.

INSTALLFEST

Best tale from the "InstallFest" -- AKA "Been there before." After Keith finished delivering his presentation, he set about the task incorporating his Tivax T-8 into his MythTV System. He battled with this project for about 3.5 hours. Steam was coming out of his ears. The non sequiturs started... "this is clearly not worth..., What the..., Why would...," most everyone tentatively visited him at his computer to offer encouragement and advice, but soon left him to suffer in isolation. Then out of the gloom came, "It's working!" and Keith was instantly OK with computers, himself, and the Universe. As I said, we've all been there before. Perhaps not at this level of abstraction, but we've been there.

Best proof of concept: Thanks to Warren we gained verifiable proof that nVidia's "Video Display and Presentation API for Unix" (VDPAU) works -- and works very well. We all witnessed his system (built on a Zotac IONITX dual Atom board) nearly flawlessly push High Definition video, yet only used about 10% of the CPUs' capacity.

At last, MythTV enthusiasts have what they sought for so long -- a small, quiet, high definition capable MythTV Frontend. Suddenly, the a truly affordable multimedia networked home seems viable.

I attended my first Freeside welding class this Sunday. While I have done some kinds of welding in the past, this was a new beast on its own. ARC welding! Arc Welding uses a welding power supply to create an electric arc between an electrode and the base material to melt the metals at the welding point.

We spent most of the day cutting off sections of pipe and then welding them back on. This was a bit more challenging than it sounds.Below is some footage of Matt teaching a Freeside member how to weld a gap.

In the future of this class we will continue learning ARC welding methods and then expand into Mig welding. Hopefully some TIG as well (if we can find a TIG welder). We also plan on designing and building gates for the back doors. I encourage all members and non members to come check it out and participate. It's like grown up soldering. Check the Freeside calendar for upcoming classes. Suggested class donation $10.

Hacker, makers, DIYers, noisemakers, and anyone interested come out to Freeside Atlanta the night of December 2nd between 7 and 9 pm for our monthly Circuit Bending Workshop. If you are not familiar with Circuit Bending please check out these videos and links:

We made a group order of surpriseboxes from Electronic Goldmine to have some fun and jump-start our stock of interesting components. The boxes arrived yesterday, and after the meeting today we opened and sorted them, finding some interesting stuff along the way.